Thank you all for your support. When we temporarily got the doberman puppy, I mentioned that my middle girl was adamantly against it. What I did not say was the why. It was because she loved Mika so much, she did not want any attention to be diverted from Mika to another pup.
She was the one who discovered Mika's stitches unraveled and her guts were falling out. And she jumped to action trying to hold them and prevent the intestines from dragging on the floor. You have no idea how much blood I washed off her cloths. The poor girl spent last night with me sobbing herself to sleep. Being a child, she was blaming herself for all kinds of things (not praying enough for Mika, not having spent enough time with her, maybe if she had washed her hands better the dog would not have been infected, etc, etc). I tried to explain to her that none of that would have made a difference and that she is not at fault. But this does little to ease her pain.
My oldest put on a brave face and tried to comfort her sisters. Then I catch her quietly crying in her room.
All my kids are having a hard time accepting that they will not see Mika ever again and that she will not be home greeting them when they return from school.
I've encouraged the kids to write or draw about their memories and their feeling for Mika. Below is an art that my 8-year old made. She is depicting Mika in heaven chasing squirrels.
Thank you all for your support.
PS I don't want to talk about the vet because I am pursuing legal action. But I will say this (1) It was not just a matter of doing shoddy work. He made many mistakes and made them worse later on. (2) He tried to erase his tracks. When I asked for Mika's records, he claimed that he needs 30 minutes to complete them. He grudgingly printed them when I said I will take what he has now. He's put dumb ass statements in his reports such as "the owner has no concerns about the dog's condition". (3) During this ordeal, I met all shades of doctors and places. But the one place that stood up way way above everyone else, is the place that helped stabilize Mika the night her stitches opened up. Unlike most places, they clearly cared about the dog first and money came 2nd. During the first night, they did not even ask to take a credit card from us. They just helped the dog and called around for a better equipped hospital to take Mika in. Then they told us to hurry up before it is too late.
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